Seminar: UTEC Founders Program for Entrepreneurs

Every Company has a "Day 1"  最初の一歩を共に

Join the University of Tokyo Edge Capital President and Managing Partner, Dr. Tomotaka Goji, and Investment Associates John Suzuki and Lenny Chin to hear about their new Founders Program to help researchers build a startup from scratch.

In addition to providing investment funds up to $1M, the program also offers grants up to $100K to researchers conducting basic science with high commercial potential.

This is a unique opportunity to network with experienced venture capital investors interested in supporting researchers from the early ideas stage through to startup.

Tuesday 12 April 2022  |  9:30am-10:15am  |  Lab 4 Room E48

In-person event. Open to all. No registration required.

Interested in pitching your startup ideas to the UTEC Founders Program?

Following the seminar, from 10:30-11:30, we are providing an invitation-only opportunity for up to 5 OIST researchers to make 10-minute "soft" pitches of their startup ideas to the Partners at UTEC and get valuable feedback. If you are interested in this exclusive opportunity, please email your ideas by Friday 8 April to Ms. Julie-Anne Lucchetti at JulieAnne.Lucchetti@oist.jp

WHAT IS THE UTEC FOUNDERS PROGRAM?

The UTEC Founders Program was created by the University of Tokyo Edge Capital to provide comprehensive support to research teams in various stages of launching their deep-tech startups, ranging from ideas to newly incorporated companies.

The Program has two tracks:

The Equity Track provides up to $1M investment in seed-stage startups and access to an Entrepreneur-in-Residence to help innovators build their companies.

The Grants Track provides a grant of up to $100K to researchers conducting basic science that has high commercial potential in the following areas:

Life Sciences & Healthcare

• Drug discovery platforms focused on cancer, immunology, neurology and rare diseases
• Companies aimed at diagnosis, treatment and/or prevention of diseases, or improving productivity of medical environments using IT and AI
• Life sciences companies aimed at solving issues in the sectors of agriculture and food

Information Technology (IT)

• Leveraging IT/AI to transform legacy industries or create new industries
• Companies developing domain-specific marketplaces
• Startups solving social issues by intelligent automation of physical and digital assets
• Companies creating secure distributed systems for a wide range of applications through responsible development and implementation of blockchain

Physical Sciences & Engineering

• Businesses offering innovative solutions for frontiers such as space and deep sea, as well as tackling global issues such as decarbonization and ageing society.
• Startups leveraging engineering/manufacturing expertise backed by domain experience
• Challenging projects by scientists who have published seminal papers on engineering in top journals

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO EDGE CAPITAL (UTEC)

The University of Tokyo Edge Capital is is a venture capital firm with 85 billion yen under management. Since 2004, UTEC has invested in over 120 start-ups, 17 of which went public, and 13 of which achieved other forms of substantial exits, inlcuding M&A. The firm supports the creation and growth of start-ups that stem from innovative science and technology, are led by a strong team, and have a global ambition. UTEC works closely with the University of Tokyo and other universities in Japan and abroad.

This event is sponsored by the Technology Development & Innovation Center